Eat Better. Feel Better!

Sweet Potato Chili

Chili is a classic dish that is typically made with chili peppers, beef, beans and spices. Technically it’s a stew but it is so popular and common that it has it’s own category. There are a plethora of variations and so many chili cook offs occur around the world. This version is vegan, gluten free and soy free. I always have chili in my freezer. I like to make it in my crockpot and freeze it for when I’m too lazy to cook; they make excellent lunches too.

I try not to use prepared tomato sauces as they typically have lots of salt and either refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup and I’m just not down with either of those. Sooooooo, I make my own tomato sauce OR find one that is a plain, low salt tomato sauce in a glass jar. This one has only 5 calories (vs 60), 40mg (vs 600), 1g sugar (vs 7g). That is a HUGE difference in the salt content!!!

Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 cups black beans

2.5 cups pinto beans

1/2 cup red lentils

3 tomatoes, diced

1 red pepper, chopped

1 orange pepper, chopped

3 cups tomato sauce

1 jalapeno, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, diced

1 handful parsley minced

1.5 tsp cayenne

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

4 tsp chili powder

3 cups water

1 cup veggie stock

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours. Or low for the day while at work.

If you don’t have a slow cooker:

Saute the onions and garlic until translucent (about 5 minutes) then add the sweet potato, water and veggie stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes. The longer you cook chili the better so if you have more time, let it simmer on a lower heat for at least one hour. But if you’re short for time and really want a steaming bowl of delicious chili, then this will work just fine!

I like to add a sweet potato to my chili or stews as it adds some bulk and it’s consistency goes well with the beans. Chili is great on it’s own or you can serve it on top of brown rice, quinoa, with a side salad, or a bun/bread.